Pokémon Jirachi

[Aragorn the King]

Jirachi - The Wish Pokémon

X Flavor Text - "Generations have believed that any wish written on a note on its head will come true when it awakens."
Y Flavor Text - "It is said to have the ability to grant any wish for just one week every thousand years."

Pokédex Number - #385 (National) | #--- (Kalos)

Type - Base Stats - 100 HP / 100 Atk / 100 Def / 100 SAtk / 100 SDef / 100 Spe

Abilities:

Serene Grace: Serene Grace will double the chance of a move having an additional effect. For example, Psychic will have a 20% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense stat instead of its usual 10% chance, and Rock Smash will always lower an opponent's Defense by 1 level, as opposed to having a 50% chance of doing so. Serene Grace boosts the 10% flinch chance due to King's Rock or Razor Fang to 20%. Serene Grace has no effect on status moves.

Notable Moves (Bold indicates STAB):

- Wish (Start)
- Psychic (lvl 20, TM 29)
- Zen Headbutt (Lvl 35, Transfer)
- Healing Wish (Lvl 50)
- Doom Desire (Lvl 70)
- Psyshock (TM 03)
- Calm Mind (TM 04)
- Light Screen (TM 16)
- Thunderbolt (TM 24)
- Reflect (TM 33)
- Thunder Wave (TM 73)
- U-turn (TM 89)
- Drain Punch (Transfer)
- Fire Punch (Transfer)
- Ice Punch (Transfer)
- Iron Head (Transfer)
- Stealth Rock (Transfer)
- Trick (Transfer)

General Analysis:

Jirachi is one of the giants of B&W OU that unfortunately isn't as good in X&Y. However, with the recent banning of Aegislash, Jirachi has been able to claim some niches. Jirachi still has a huge movepool, great stats, and a good typing, and so it's able to function as both an offensive check and defensive counter to Mega Gardevoir, which are two in-demand roles. It boasts semi-reliable recovery in WishProtect, and is also able to heal its teammates! It can spread paralysis no matter, and can still use its annoying strategy, albeit to a lesser degree, of ParaFlinching. In addition to offensive roles, it still can use an effective Scarf set that uses its great coverage, annoying ability, and utility in U-turn, Healing Wish, and Trick to be effective. Jirachi still struggles due to having three relatively common weaknesses, but its ten resistances/immunities in addition to its colorful movepool and good all-around stats allow it to carve some interesting niches in OU.

Movesets:

Defensive

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 228 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- U-turn / Thunder Wave / Toxic

Set Description:

With this set Jirachi is able to be an effective counter to Mega Gardevoir. It has semi-reliable recovery in Wish-Protect, the ability to spread paralysis with Body Slam and Thunder Wave, and a reliable STAB move that works in tandem with Thunder Wave in Iron Head. Toxic can be used instead of Body Slam or Thunder Wave, since it also works well with flinching and cripples the Electric- and Ground-types that would otherwise counter Jirachi. Beware of the new phazing mechanics though, since now Whirlwind and Roar bypass Protect and will prevent Jirachi from healing. However, this will end up healing your teammates. Thanks to Wish' superior PP to Synthesis, as well as Jirachi's excellent taking of super effective Hidden Powers, Jirachi can also handle Venusaur decently. Using Zen Headbutt instead of Iron Head or Thunder Wave could be done to help it against Venusaur even more, but limits its general effectiveness. It's also able to handle Keldeo decently, as it is never 2hko'd thanks to Protect and it can spread paralysis reliably. Of course, Zen Headbutt would make this easier, but Jirachi will still win 1v1 without it.

This set is also a great answer to Clefable, since it takes less from a +1 Flamethrower than Clefable takes from an Iron Head. Additionally, there's only a 40% chance of an opponent moving after Iron Head. The set at first seems only to operate thanks to hax, but its typing and movepool really to most of the work. ParaFlinching is only the icing on the cake. By the way, the speed EVs are to outspeed non-mega evolved Tyranitar. It should be noted that this set, without Toxic, is hard walled by any electric-type, so teammates to handle Electric's are necessary.

Choice Scarf

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt / Fire Punch / Drain Punch
- U-turn / Ice Punch
- Healing Wish / Trick

Set Description:

Choice Scarf is a much different take on Jirachi. It sacrifices its most of its defensive capabilities for Speed and more use of its offensive movepool. Jirachi doesn't have to rely on Thunder Wave for Iron Head to move first, since it's outspeeding everything with a Choice Scarf. Iron Head is a useful STAB move, boasting decent power and a 60% flinch chance, and is what allows offensive Jirachi to be one of the best checks to Gardevoir and a decent check to Terrakion. Zen Headbutt is a nice complementary STAB move that boasts a more modest 40% flinch chance, along with the same power and slightly lower accuracy. It allows Jirachi to check Mega Venusaur and Keldeo. If Psychic coverage isn't necessary, Fire Punch can be used to beat Ferrothorn, Bisharp, Mega Scizor. Drain Punch could also be used for Tyranitar and Bisharp. Ice Punch is a great third move that allows Jirachi to revenge kill DD Dragonite, Noivern, and Garchomp (not scarf locked into EQ), and also has an infuriating 20% freeze chance. Lastly, the fourth move should be a momentum-grabbing move. U-turn allows you to do damage and switch to a better teammate, Healing Wish allows you to heal an almost fainted Pokemon, and Trick allows you to cripple Pokemon that would hate a Scarf, like Chansey.

SubToxic

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Fire Punch
- Iron Head
- Toxic

This set is really annoying to face. Toxic is a very easy to spam move, and of the things that aren't affected, most either are hit super effectively by Fire Punch or can be flinched to death with Iron Head. Flinching + Toxic go together very well; with every flinch, more Toxic damage is racked up. Substitute is the icing on the cake for this set; it helps it avoid Sucker Punch from the likes of Bisharp, and subsequently threaten them with on of its three other moves. The set combines Speed, offense, and defense, but isn't exceptional at any of the three, due to its mediocre Speed, no Attack investment, and no Defense investment, so don't try to make Jirachi do more than it can. Basically, use Substitute against things that can't threaten you, abuse Burn and Flinch hax, and flinch poisoned things until they die. idk if I explained this set great; ask TRC or Jukain for a better explanation.

Alexwolf Rocker

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 168 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch / Zen Headbutt

Enough Speed to outrun Jolly Mega Heracross, enough Atk to OHKO Mega Gardevoir after SR, and rest to HP and SpD, to handle as good as possible Mega Gardevoir, Latios, Latias, Greninja, etc. The first three moves are musts, while the last move depends on if you want to cover Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor or Mega Venusaur, Mega Heracross, and do some decent damage to Electric-types, though switching out of them with U-turn on the switch is usually your best option. This set works great on any kind of team that wants to compress the roles of a SR setter, a special tank, and a special pivot in one teamslot.

Other Options

• You can use a Dual Screens set, but there are better setters.
• You can use a Calm Mind set - offensive with Psyshock works really well.
• Doom Desire is a fun move that can be used to lure in Pokemon like Clefable with Kyurem-B. If Clefable is the teams only Kyu-B answer, the team is looking for some trouble, considering Clefable can't switch into Kyu-B without being one shotted.

Jirachi checks very threatening Pokemon and has a lot of versatility to boast. It's a cool niche Pokemon that, while not dominant, is effective against most teams. Try out the sets I provided and tell me how you like them? Are there any other things Jirachi checks/counters? Does it have other sets that deserve to be mentioned or made a main set? What are some reasons, other than three common weaknesses, that make Jirachi struggle? What are some ways Jirachi can overcome its struggles?

 

[Karxrida]

Fire Punch should be slashed on Offensive sets to deal with Bisharp, since it really doesn't care about Paralysis, resists all of Jirachi's common attacks, and hits back hard with a now super effective Knock Off/Pursuit/Sucker Punch. It also deals with Scizor and Ferrothorn.

 

[gitgud69]

Lemme help you out with the checks and counters:
Fast electrics who don't care about a thunder wave and resist iron head can paralyze jirachi before she even tries to flinch. Then they can proceed to 2HKO, and kill her with her own hax. Even frail jolteon, galvantula and co can dispatch her with little resistance. Rotom-w has no problem dealing with her wish stalling due to being quite bulky himself, and can cripple her with will o wisp.
The aforesaid electrics also have no problem dealing with the choice scarf set as well, since they usually carry all attacking moves, don't mind going sanic fast, and rotom-w can carry trick himself. Gengar can set up a sub to avoid being gimped by twave and OHKO back with shadow ball. Heatran shits lava plumes all over jirachi, being x4 resistant to iron head and not giving any fucks when twaved. Fire punch jirachi variants get even worse treatment from (BAN ME PLEASE). I would call him a straight up counter to any set she's running

Stunfisk is the best counter, but I think he's gonna be the next suspect because he's too OP. Forget about him.

 

[alexwolf]

Definitely add Latios and Latias as Pokemon that SpD Jirachi counters, as both of them are getting harder and harder to deal with. And Greninja, anther hard to wall special attacker.

I also think it's worth slashing Toxic after or even before Thunder Wave, to have a way to threaten Ground and Electric-types simultaneously, both groups of Pokemon that would otherwise counter and take advantage of Jirachi. Iron Head + Toxic has great synergy too, with flinches helping rack up Toxic damage.

Finally, i would stress how much Jirachi is hurt by the new phazing mechanics, as Roar Heatran and Whirlwind Hippowdon can shut down its recovery, and you take a significant risk by staying in and trying to flinch them. At least you can Toxic Hippowdon. Skarmory is a small problem too, but at least you face no risk by staying in and using Iron Head.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Alright thanks guys! I added mentions of more Pokemon specially defensive Jirachi counters, mentioned Toxic as an alternative to Thunder Wave, mentioned Electric-types as Pokemon that can easily handle specially defensive Jirachi without Toxic, mentioned that the new Whirlwind/roar mechanics make Jirachi's life miserable, and mentioned Fire Punch and Drain Punch as alternatives to Zen Headbutt on the Scarf set.

 

[Vivmeister10]

Don't forget that it also has access to Moonblast now, very useful on special sets

 

[Karxrida]

Don't forget that it also has access to Moonblast now, very useful on special sets

The problem is that it's incompatable with all the Move Tutors :/

 

[Aragorn the King]

The problem is that it's incompatable with all the Move Tutors :/

Yeah. I mentioned it under moves, since it's a decent move with a 60% chance to drop the opponent's special attack. However, the, as for now, incompatibility with most of Jirachi's moves, including Iron Head, make it probably not worth it. Sure, Jirachi has the stats and movepool to go 100% special, but it usually isn't worth dropping its flinching moves and punching moves.

 

[TheInsanity]

Just slap an assault vest on him:

Jirachi @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch/ Ice Punch / Zen Headbutt /Body Slam


252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Jirachi: 178-211 (52.1 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Gardevoir Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Jirachi: 114-136 (33.4 - 39.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Mega Manectric Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Jirachi: 194-230 (56.8 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Not bad, and u are pretty fast to speedtie with zardtwins.

Set explanation:

U are an awesome mon with 100 in every stat, with the awesome Assault Vest u can check a lot of special threats not named Landorus or ZardY. Instead of wasting a slot for a special wall, use Jirachi. The paraflinch is sweet, also u can kill fairies with a stabbed iron head. With Drain Punch u can recovery HP, without support of a wisher, so even if u don't have leftovers, this is really good. U-Turn is for momentum. The 4th slot is a personal choice on what u wanna kill.
I like it fast and jolly, but an option can be 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe Adamant for outspeed based 80 Adamant fully invested, more power. Even with "only" 108 Spe with Body Slam u can paralyze opponent's mons, and start with the paraflinch.

 

[trc]

Jirachi is a pretty cool Pokemon; obviously it isn't as good as it was in BW but with the ban of Aegislash and the impending ban of Mawilite, Jirachi has some serious niches. Its defensive set counters the normally troublesome Mega Gardevoir, as well as Latios and Latias. With the drop in popularity of Dark Pulse, Jirachi can also wall Greninja pretty well when using a Specially Defensive spread. I agree that Iron Head + Toxic is a great combination, but Iron Head + Thunder Wave / Body Slam works depending on what you want to accomplish. Iron Head + Toxic is better against offensive Pokemon as they lose their Speed and are often frail enough to go down to a few Iron Head hits. Defensive Pokemon are more resilient, and the extra damage inflicted by Toxic makes wearing them down a lot easier.

I also don't think Assault Vest is a good idea. Jirachi is quite weak on its own, and without recovery or access to a status move, it loses a lot of its defensive ability. It seems sort of like a mediocre "middle-set" between the Specially Defensive set and the Expert Belt offensive set.

 

[Prinz]

I'd mention a set of Substitute / Toxic / Fire Punch / Iron Head somewhere in the OP. It's one of the primary sets of Jirachi in UU and even if I havent tried this set in OU yet, it looks like it can be a good support pokèmon now that Aegislash is banned. It can just spam Toxic all around and thats pretty lame if its used with Iron Head. Substitute is to avoid status or to bypass Sucker Punch users like Bisharp and Mawile to hit them later with a super effective fire punch, it also hits some mons like Ferrothorn, Skarmory (that can't do much back to Jirachi and will be burned something by fire punch just hitting it with that, 20% to burn is not bad at all) and Scizor that would wall hard this set otherwise. Not a super set of course, but I think its decent and it deserves somewhat a little mention, it isnt a bad support mon

Also if you mentioned things like Gravity and Magic Coat in the notable moves, mention Meteor Smash as well, I guess they are at the same level, they are all moves that have some niches in certain sets and situations but that there aren't rly used much.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Thanks Alexander. ! Sorry for getting back to you so late. I've talked to a couple other people, and the consensus was that SubToxic Jirachi is an evil and viable set. I added it; hopefully the spread/moveset is right for OU as well, but I'm terrible with EVs, so if there's something better please let me know!

I also changed some of the other sets: on specially defensive I slashed Body Slam before Thunder Wave / Toxic, and on Scarf I moved U-Turn to a slash with Ice Punch, since Healing Wish is soooo good. I'm also considering removing Drain Punch, Fire Punch, and Trick, since the other moves seem necessary to me, but I'm not really sure. Any ideas about these two sets anyone?

Lastly, are there any other sets that you guys think could become main sets? I've heard really good things about SpecsRachi with Doom Desire, but I'm not sure if it should get its own set.

 

[alexwolf]

Here is the SR set i have been using for Jirachi:

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 168 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch / Zen Headbutt

Enough Speed to outrun Jolly Mega Heracross, enough Atk to OHKO Mega Gardevoir after SR, and rest to HP and SpD, to handle as good as possible Mega Gardevoir, Latios, Latias, Greninja, etc. The first three moves are musts, while the last move depends on if you want to cover Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor or Mega Venusaur, Mega Heracross, and do some decent damage to Electric-types, though switching out of them with U-turn on the switch is usually your best option. This set works great on any kind of team that wants to compress the roles of a SR setter, a special tank, and a special pivot in one teamslot.

 

[escarlata]

This has been a pretty fun lure which I have been using on Jirachi on bulky offense so that Landorus does not rip through the team.
Jirachi @ Shuca Berry or any other type resist berry.
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Drain Punch / Fire Punch / U-turn / ZHB
- Ice Punch / Fire Punch / U-turn / ZHB
- Healing Wish

Type Resist Berry offers no recovery or whatsoever so it can easily bluff a Scarf set very easily. When 'locked' into the 'wrong moves', it easily attracts a lot of Pokemon to come in and set up on it or attack it. Ice Punch is for DDNite if it tries to set up on Drain Punch -> Ice Punch OHKO after Multiscale is broken by Drain Punch, for example, while Band or +1 EQ does not OHKO with Shuca. Drain Punch deals with Bisharp, who almost never uses Sucker Punch on Rachi, and even without Colbur Berry, Rachi survives and heals a good amount back with Drain Punch. With Shuca, Rachi makes an excellent lure for Lando-I, who also gets OHKOed by Ice Punch and failing to OHKO Rachi. Basically this Rachi can be customised to lure and beat many things that likes to come in on it, so there's that. Healing Wish is just a great move that allows you to bring something to full health after Rachi accomplishes her job with the luring and killing.

 

[Jaroda]

I would advise against an AV set. A simple paraflinch set garners so many extra turns of Leftovers recovery that it would far surpass any reduced damage from an Assault Vest, plus Wish, Substitute, Stealth Rock and Reflect are all very useful.

I'd also like to inquire what all the speed on SubToxic Jirachi is helping with specifically. I'd also consider slashing Iron Head on it with Water Pulse so you have an effective tool against Heatran and Gliscor, which has a decent 40% confuse rate, or Shadow Ball which has good neutral coverage and 40% chance to lower SpD, giving you an edge in those fights.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Ya I was gonna say, with or without King's Rock, Iron Head has a 60% chance to flinch. It's better to use leftovers, since king's rock actually does nothing unless you use a move without a flinch chance.

 

[MrCookiepants]

I would advise against an AV set. A simple paraflinch set garners so many extra turns of Leftovers recovery that it would far surpass any reduced damage from an Assault Vest, plus Wish, Substitute, Stealth Rock and Reflect are all very useful.

I'd also like to inquire what all the speed on SubToxic Jirachi is helping with specifically. I'd also consider slashing Iron Head on it with Water Pulse so you have an effective tool against Heatran and Gliscor, which has a decent 40% confuse rate, or Shadow Ball which has good neutral coverage and 40% chance to lower SpD, giving you an edge in those fights.

I find paraflinch to be uncompetitive so I avoid using it if possible.

But what about a Special attacking set with AV? Moonblast has a 60% chance to lower target's SpAtk. This, combined with AV and Jirachi's natural bulk, could make it an effective special tank.

 

[Force Majeure]

I find paraflinch to be uncompetitive so I avoid using it if possible.

But what about a Special attacking set with AV? Moonblast has a 60% chance to lower target's SpAtk. This, combined with AV and Jirachi's natural bulk, could make it an effective special tank.

I think someone mentioned this above, but using Moonblast on Jirachi means losing its older move tutor attacks, a (generally) bad trade-off. The SpA drop might force switches, though, which could be nice if you're successful in res. hazard stacking.

You might also want to get over your aversion to Serene Grace abuse; it's fun and sometimes game-changing, but I would hardly call it uncompetitive.

EDIT: I'm also not a big fan of AVest on Jirachi because it has a really good support movepool, including Wish.

 

[Adversary]

nice topic Aragorn the King
Jirachi has risen in usage and it is a very annoying threath to face, either way I noticed that the substitute variant has 248 hp, isnt better having 252 hp to not get the sub broken by blissey/chansey?
what do you think about an eventually cminder set?

 

[zbr]

nice topic Aragorn the King
Jirachi has risen in usage and it is a very annoying threath to face, either way I noticed that the substitute variant has 248 hp, isnt better having 252 hp to not get the sub broken by blissey/chansey?
what do you think about an eventually cminder set?

I doubt Superrachi is going to make a comeback cause of how fast the meta is right now. I don't see Rachi getting much opportunities to set up.

 

[D3CON]

I would also put thunder as a possibility in the defensive set instead of t wave.

 

[Karxrida]

I would also put thunder as a possibility in the defensive set instead of t wave.

Thunder has a major miss chance and doesn't really deal with anything that paraflinching can't already outside of Thundurus.

 

[D3CON]

Thunder has a major miss chance and doesn't really deal with anything that paraflinching can't already outside of Thundurus.

It also deals with skarm, which is a pretty big plus if you predict correctly, since skarm usually walls rachi to kingdom come, as well as bulky waters like slowbro, which is rising in popularity. Yes there is a risk vs reward element, but i do believe it should be mentioned as a possible set for rachi.

 

[Karxrida]

It also deals with skarm, which is a pretty big plus if you predict correctly, since skarm usually walls rachi to kingdom come, as well as bulky waters like slowbro, which is rising in popularity. Yes there is a risk vs reward element, but i do believe it should be mentioned as a possible set for rachi.

You really don't need it when T-Wave helps you against anything faster and paraflinching can let you BS your way past them anyway, especially when Skarmory can't do anything back.

I'm also pretty sure you're more likely to paraflinch than hit with Thunder anyway.

 

[D3CON]

You really don't need it when T-Wave helps you against anything faster and paraflinching can let you BS your way past them anyway, especially when Skarmory can't do anything back.

I'm also pretty sure you're more likely to paraflinch than hit with Thunder anyway.

That is some hella flawed logic. First of all, 0 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 29-35 (7.3 - 8.8%) -- possibly the worst move ever. Yes you are doing nothing at all. 0 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 25-30 (7.4 - 8.9%) -- possibly the worst move ever. And skarm can use this to defog/set up SR or spikes/roost up. Pretty much a free switch in, and it can also whirlwind out. Also, the probability to flinch 1st time is 6/10. The probability to not get the flinch but get the para is 4/10 * 3/10 = 12/100. We add these two together and we get 72/100. You literally have a 0.02 more chance to flinch than to hit a thunder. Which is kinda what i mean by flawed logic.
0- SpA Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro: 170-202 (43.1 - 51.2%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0- SpA Jirachi Thunder vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 190-224 (56.8 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

So thats a guaranteed 2hko on skarm and a roll on slowbro after rocks. I think i will take those odds instead of trying to flinch them 100 times or, 13 in the case of skarm if it has shed shell. Like i said, its not a standard set (like it use to be in BW), but it is still a set that deserves recognition.